1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus which acquires job information accumulated in an application server to display jobs, an image forming system, and an image output method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, to print using a device (which may be referred to as an image output apparatus) such as a multi function peripheral (MFP), the user stores (spools) a print job in an application server instead of directly inputting the job from a host PC to the device in terms of security. After the user performs a predetermined operation to be authenticated in the device from which he/she wants to output the job, the device receives job information from the application server. The device creates a list of jobs based on the received job information, and displays it on a user interface (to be referred to as a UI hereinafter). Then, the user selects, from the list displayed on the UI, a job to be printed, and then outputs it.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-271824, for example, discloses a technique in which after authenticating a user, a device accepts jobs of the authenticated user from a server, and displays them. Furthermore, to acquire jobs, the device receives all the pieces of job information for the authenticated user, and then displays the jobs on a UI.
In the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-271824, however, it is necessary to acquire information for all jobs accumulated in the server. Since an advanced device has a sufficient memory capacity, a shortage in memory or the like rarely occurs. Since a low-cost device does not have sufficient memory capacity, a shortage in the memory capacity may occur when information for all jobs is acquired.
If the device acquires all jobs prior to printing, it cannot display all the jobs on one screen, and thus a scroll operation may be required. As the number of jobs increases, the number of scroll operations also increases, thereby taking a time to select a job. This increases the probability that a job saved in the server is deleted or a new job is added while the user selects a job to be printed in the device, thereby causing a difference between job information displayed on the device and that saved in the server frequently.